In Zen Buddhism, selfishness is directly linked to the notion of a permanent and separate “self” — precisely what the practice seeks to dissolve.
There is no fixed self, no individual essence that remains through time. What we call the “I” is a provisional mental construction, made of sensations, thoughts, and memories in constant change. Clinging to this construction generates suffering.
Selfishness, in this sense, is not merely a moral behavior (being selfish toward others), but the very structure of ordinary consciousness: the tendency to place oneself at the center of experience, to identify with the body, desires, and opinions as if they were a solid and real core. Zen sees this identification as the root of illusion.
In the context of the work The Selfish, selfishness appears precisely as this visible inscription (“SELF”) upon a being that, by nature, flows. The work plays with this tension: the fish carries selfishness, yet Zen points out that selfishness is what the fish (and the practitioner) is already on the path to ceasing to be.
Digital Painting | 7000x4933px | 2008/2026
